Videmus, Inc.
Prelude for Piano is a 1962 revision of one of Julia Perry’s earliest compositions, Lament, composed in 1946 while she was a student at Westminster Choir College. This brief work serves as an appealing introduction to Perry’s music, reflecting her unique harmonic language, meticulous approach to musical material, and a cohesive formal structure. The writing is concentrated throughout, achieving expressive intensity through austere and economical means. The mood, harmonies, form, and original title all point to the language of the blues.
This early composition anticipates Perry’s lifelong preference for formal economy, for consolidating rather than elaborating her musical ideas. The Prelude begins with an expansive theme. When a variant of it begins anew, it is only the first part of the tune. The motion is soon compressed, morphing into short motivic cells that move in oscillations and repetitions. The initial gesture of the opening returns once again, but the tune immediately breaks off, setting up the closing phrase. The ending comes abruptly, without a hint of flamboyance, another characteristic of Julia Perry’s music.
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